Man Up & Go Alumna Helps to Open Health Clinic

Published on Thursday, February 12, 2015

Short term missions trips aren’t the answer to the world’s problems; as Christians, we know that there is only One answer, and it’s found in the forgiveness offered to us through Jesus Christ. But we have found that short term Man Up and Go missions trip to Africa have indeed either sparked or renewed passion in our team members for that which God cares about – namely, orphans and widows.

One such team member is Katie, who we’ve mentioned before on our blog. She served with us this past June in Uganda and the Lord prompted her to go back and “do life” with one of our pastor partners in Pallisa, Eastern Uganda. Since October (2014), she has been dutifully working to finish and help open the brand new Kerith Health Centre, a low-cost clinic serving multiple villages outside of Pallisa. In addition to basic urgent care services, the centre will function as a laboratory to test for diseases, provide treatment, dispense medicine, and in the future, serve as a maternity ward.

The clinic is not free to the local residents (though some of the services are), but costs very little. Not only can the patients receive affordable care, but by charging at least some fee, it provides sustainability to pay for medicine, maintenance of the clinic, and staff salaries. Katie has said the clinic received high praise from the Ministry of Health, and they expect a steady amount of traffic from numerous villages once the word gets out.

The clinic opened at the end of January and has already seen dozens of paying patients. Most encouraging, each staff is motivated to care for them because of the grace, love, and forgiveness shown to them by the Savior, who is Jesus Christ. We are all motivated by something, whether we recognize it or not. How wonderful that for those of us who love Jesus, it is the message of HOPE that motivates us to share our gifts, talents, and abilities with others. In the end, providing medical services for this community gives struggling parents a better chance to care for their children instead of abandoning them to an orphanage or street life. That’s a James 1:27 pre-emptive strike!

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to take a tour with Katie in the video she produced from her remote office in Uganda, and thank you for your continued prayers and support of this ministry.